The Australian city with the worst traffic congestion
Although Sydney has long been labelled the city with the worst traffic congestion, researchers have in fact discovered it’s Melbourne that’s the most clogged city in the country.
Grattan Institute Traffic Program Director Marion Terrill used Google Maps to track 300 separate driving routes in both Melbourne and Sydney, including freight paths and roads to the CBD and airport.
Through the research she found Melbourne, not Sydney, has the most congestion on the roads, despite Melbourne city having almost half a million less people.
Ms Terrill identified the roads in Melbourne are particularly clogged if you’re headed into to CBD from Melbourne’s north east, suburbs including Heidelberg West, Epping and South Morang.
It takes commuters half as long to get to the city from the north east during peak hour.
In Melbourne, a trip to the CBD in peak hour will take a commuter 70 per cent longer than it does in free-flowing traffic. In Sydney it takes about 60 per cent longer.
Ms Terrill also found that the afternoon peak hour traffic in both Sydney and Melbourne was about 55 per cent longer than the drive during free flow traffic.
“There’s no such thing as peak hour in the afternoon. It is any time between 3.30pm and 6pm,” she said.